Oh happy day. I know that the minutes can’t go fast enough until 2008, when that Bush creature will be booted back to Texas and the White House fumigated…but in the meantime, we have to celebrate the small victories. Like when a neo con con nose-picking farting dork is hit with a scandal, and must hide for cover.

Such is the case with Eric Keroack, an opponent of birth control and an antiabortion zealot, who glorious George put in charge of the Population Affairs Office at the Department of Health and Human Services. He did this following the November elections, as if to thumb his nose at the Americans with functioning gray matter, and let us know that he is still in charge. And if he thinks a narrow minded moron who believes that women should remain barefoot and pregnant and chained to the stove is the best person to run the population affairs office, so be it.

Ah, but trouble in paradise. Dr. Keroack has resigned amid the haze of a hazy scandal, all too hazy to even discuss. He has gotten out of town on the double, and in fact, left so suddenly that there really hasn’t been time to start organizing the parades and parties to celebrate his leave.

First, good riddance. One asshole less is always welcome. But this move was even controversial for George Bush. This particular office, to which Dr. K Neocon was appointed, controls federally financed family planning services, treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, and screening for breast and cervical cancer. This entrusted to a man who thinks contraceptives are evil and abortion a grave sin.

From US News:

In January of this year, a New York Times op-ed piece said the following of Keroack: “In the PowerPoint presentation that has cemented his reputation, he makes the case that premarital sex suppresses the hormone oxytocin, thereby impairing one’s ability to forge a successful long-term relationship. If forced to mince words, you might call this fanciful or speculative. Otherwise, you’d call it wacko.”

In this space two months before that piece was written, I wrote: “Yet just yesterday, the Bush administration’s Department of Health and Human Services announced the selection of an extreme right-wing “Christian pregnancy-counseling organization” chief to lead the department’s family-planning and population programs. The Washington Post reports that OB-GYN Eric Keroack ‘regards the distribution of contraceptives as demeaning to women.’ ”

Keroack is not a scientist, or a scientist first, as doctors should be. He’s devoted his career to proselytizing, putting that ahead of patient care.

Now let’s take a look at this sentence; premarital sex suppresses the hormone oxytocin, thereby impairing one’s ability to forge a successful long-term relationship. The man who uttered this sentence was entrusted with overseeing hundreds of millions of dollars, and the health of millions of women. Does this sentence sound like it comes from the lips of a man trained in medicine during the 20th century? Or does it sound like something you might hear from the lips of an intoxicated crackpot–the same one who was just screaming about the Apocalypse and how Elvis will return riding on a white horse with Jesus as his back-up guitar player?

And my favorite, “contraceptives are demeaning to a woman.” I wonder how many women he asked about that one. Hey babe, aren’t those birth control pills you’re taking just the absolute most demeaning thing that ever happened to you? Wouldn’t you much prefer 10 hungry mouths to feed and diaper?

It seems that an unspecified action is being taken against poor Eric’s private medical practice in Massachusetts by state Medicaid officials, according to the latest news. No one will specify what this action is, but if Eric is keeping his filthy mouth closed about it, and he shot off a resignation at lightening speed, then it must be something bad.

But whatever he did, the outcome is that the dork is gone from office. Another Bush incompetent has bit the dust, and evertime a Bush devotee vacates, the world instantly becomes a better place.

Two days of rainfree weather. Imagine that. We had two days where there was sun for at least part of the day. The rain started yesterday evening, lest the mold begin to dry out or the mushrooms start shriveling up. This morning is gray, wet, and gray, and wet, and gray and wet….I wonder how well shrinks do here, with all of the SAD and people suffering from water logged brains?

I know, I am probably tempting fate, but this appears to be the third day in a row where there is a hint of sun!!!! And it hasn’t rained for two days, and the forecast says that there is only a 20% today. OHMIGOD, I think I am lost at Stargate Atlantis.

It has been gray, bleak, dreary and rainy–and unseasonably cold–since the beginning of October. I don’t think that there have been three days without rain since then.

Be careful, Seattle. You’re going to lose your bipolar status if you don’t shape up. Lose your reputation as one of the most dreary, unfriendly, and depressing cities on earth. Sunshine is just not your style.

Actually, I am thrilled. I can’t wait to get outside and see if this piddly weak sunshine, trying to brave its way through the cloud cover, can help burn off the mold growing on my shoulders, or the mushrooms in my hair.

Did you know that the best doctor in Seattle is an actor? Not good news if you happen to be in need of one, for whatever ails you.

Seattle Magazine often features a “Best of Seattle” where they name the best restaurants, clubs, stores, doctors, dentists, pet sitters, specialists in Season Affective Disorder, people who can spit the furthest, people who dress the grungiest, etc. The March issue features their annual Best Doctors, and guess who’s on the magazine cover? Some grinning jackal with a vaguely familiar face–and for those of you who watch TV, you’ll probably scratch your head and say, “Hey, doesn’t he look like that actor who plays Dr. X on Grey’s Anatomy?”

Well, surprise. It is the actor on Grey’s Anatomy. I can’t remember his name, and don’t feel the need to look it up, but rather than putting a real picture of a real doctor on the magazine cover, they put a photo of an actor. Cute, huh. It seems like something you’d more likely find in LA, but no, this is Seattle. And what a sad statement. Are the editors of Seattle magazine ashamed of all of the great doctors that live and work in this city? Do they think them too ugly, too fat, too revolting, to put on the cover?

Wouldn’t a nice cover shot of a group of Seattle’s outstanding physicians been a more appropriate cover for a magazine issue that is celebrating their status? If I were a doctor working here, I’d be highly insulted. In fact, I’m a nurse without a Washington license, who doesn’t work as a nurse anymore, and I’m insulted. It is humiliating that they think they need to put the mug of a fictitious actor who stars in a silly medical drama (which has been pointed out as being one of the most medically inaccurate hospital TV programs of all times) on the cover.

So what next? Maybe when Seattle magazine celebrates its Top Lawyers, they can a photo on the cover of the old team from LA Law, that hot show from the 70s or 80s or whenever. And for top dentists, maybe Dr. Tim Whatley from the sitcom Seinfeld. You know, Jerry’s dentist.

In fact, maybe the editorial staff of Seattle magazine might like to be replaced by a fictional team.

Just when you think you’ve seen it all….

I was really under the weather yesterday. What started out as a cough turned into the nausea/vomiting from hell. I was coughing a little bit on Sunday, but nothing to write home about. Then early Monday I brought my car in for servicing, was home about 7:30am, had breakfast, answered email–the usual. Then I laid down for a nap, and after that, felt just awful. I think nausea and vomiting is probably the worst possible symptom–give me diarrhea anyday!!

Anyway, yesterday disappeared into a fog. I was so tired, just dozing but afraid to lie down because that seemed to make me more nauseous. Yuck.

I’m feeling better today and do have to fetch my car. I could have used a private duty nurse yesterday!

I’ve always known that living in Seattle is detrimental to mental health and stability, for the city itself suffers from bipolar disease. Now, for example, I am looking out the window and the sun is almost shining (I say almost believe I’m not sure if I’m hallucinating or not) and it is raining. How can it rain and be sunny at the same time?

Only in Seattle, bipolar capitol of the world.

Spammers are now trying to present us with a learning experience. Their trash that is taking up space in my email in-box, and forcing me to waste my time deleting it, is now being presented as educational material.

I sometimes share the memorable and profoundly idiotic spam that comes into my box. But this one was really cute.

What is Erectile Dysfunction (ED)?

Erectile dysfunction, sometimes referred to as impotence, is the inability for a sexually active male to obtain and sustain an erection for sexual purposes. In the past, this has been very embarrassing for men, and a source of anxiety for their partners, and, in fact, there has been very little diagnostic testing or
treatments available up until very recently.

How can Erectile Dysfunction (ED) be healed?

With the advent of an effective oral and safe medications Viagra (Sildenafil) and Cialis (Tadalafil), the entire evaluation and treatment process for ED has become revolutionized.

Wow, isn’t that something? I bet most of you had never heard of ED before you read this. And I bet you never heard of Viagra before either.

This spam is really something. Thank you guys, for the enlightenment. Now please take it elsewhere and stay out of my email!!!

This story is real, and because I’m tired and wanted to blog something, I figured that this would provide some amusement. And also make a case for the need of increased mental health surveillance in the U.S.

From yahoo news:

A 20-year-old man received probation after he was convicted of having sexual contact with a dead deer. The sentence also requires Bryan James Hathaway to be evaluated as a sex offender and treated at the Institute for Psychological and Sexual Health in Duluth, Minn.

“The state believes that particular place is the best to provide treatment for the individual,” Assistant District Attorney Jim Boughner said.

Now this is a bizarre ruling if I ever heard, and a law which seems to be poorly thought out. Enter HB 613, which the governor of New Mexico just signed into law. Now this should be near and dear to the heart of all OB nurses who have struggled to help moms with breast feeding, as well as NICU nurses who have helped moms get started pumping milk for their premies who are not yet able to eat.

This new law requires that all employers, both public and private, are required to provide an additional, clean, private space in the workplace, besides the bathroom, for nursing mothers to use a breast pump to collect natural milk for their infants. Yes, you heard me correctly. This was the brainchild of Rep. Danice Picraux, D-Albuquerque and breastfeeding advocates, and I am absolutely shocked that this passed. In theory, it sounds very nice and humane, and certainly, would be lovely for all nursing moms who return to work to have a nice cozy little corner to pump their milk. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that infants be exclusively breast fed for about the first six months of life and many moms can’t remain out of work for that length of time. So the alternative is to express milk and store it, and have the babysitter feed the breast milk via bottle (although some purist fanatics even oppose that) in the mother’s absence.

But from an employer’s perspective, this bill could be a disaster. I haven’t seen the entire bill, but from what I’ve read, it does not appear to make any exceptions. Like for a five person office with one room, a bathroom and a storeroom. Uh, where is mom supposed to pump her breasts? Or is the employer supposed to rent her a room across the street, so she won’t have to be humiliated by pumping her breasts in the bathroom?

Basically, it is lovely in theory, but not very realistic except for a larger company, or one that has extra space, or if the mom in question already has a private office. How is a small business with very limited space supposed to provide a clean and private place if none exists? Should someone give up an office? Should employees be kicked out of their lunchroom? And what if even these options don’t exist? I have been inside some very crowded offices, where either the space is limited, there are more employees than the office space can comfortably hold, or both. So where is the nursing mom supposed to be set up?

In reality, and I know that the advocates of this law don’t want to hear this, the mom may have a choice of using the bathroom or having a chair set up in a storeroom and put a sign out front when she is using it. Not attractive? Well, I’d love to hear other suggestions and I’m sure that employers would as well.

I am also concerned that putting in a blanket mandate like this may actually increase discrimination against hiring of pregnant women or increase firing of them, making it difficult for them to return to work, etc. And yes, it is against the law to discriminate, but it is also very difficult to prove that you didn’t get a job because you’re pregnant, especially if a number of other equally/better qualified people also applied for it. Ditto for getting fired, especially if you are non-unionized and work in a state where you can be fired at will. And that may well be the scenario if no exceptions are given to this law and employers simply can’t reasonably comply with it.

Anyway, this is how the law basically reads:

In order to foster the ability of a nursing mother who is an employee to use a breast pump in the workplace, an employer, including the state and its political subdivisions, shall provide:

(1) a space for using the breast pump that is:

(a) clean and private;
(b) near the employee’s workspace; and
(c) not a bathroom; and

(2) flexible break times.

B. An employer shall not be liable for:

(1) storage or refrigeration of breast milk;
(2) payment for a nursing mother’s break time in addition to established employee breaks; or
(3) payment of overtime while a nursing mother is using a breast pump.

That is very generous of them not to make the employer responsible for refridgerating the milk, or having to pay pumping overtime. But it still does not solve the dilemma of space.

This also brings up other issues. If employers are going to be forced to accommodate pumping moms, what’s to stop other groups from demanding “their own space” as well. For example, should diabetics have a clean and quiet spot other than a bathroom to check their blood sugar and give insulin? I’m waiting to hear from disability advocates on that one. If you accomodate one specific group, then the door is wide open for everyone else.

So, I’m celebrating St. Paddy’s by sitting in a freezing room listening to people with an alphabet soup of letters following their name discuss such enticing subjects as new biologics for autoimmune disease, and what I should do in case of a biomedical emergency.

In other words, I’m at a medical conference. And I can’t understand why all of these rooms need to be so icy cold. It’s not like it’s hot outside or even warm out. In fact, quite the opposite. So you freeze indoors and out.

If you’re out celebrating, whether you’re Irish or not, have a good one.

I never gave much thought to Walgreens, other than its name which sounds similar to my arch-enemy WalMart. I’ve never seen a Walgreens in Seattle, so I don’t know if they exist here, but they are all over the place in Florida, where my parents are.

But here’s a tidbit of news about Walgreens, and pay close attention if you use prescription drugs because this applies to you. If you fill your scripts at Walgreens, you might want to consider another pharmacy.

From Boing Boing:

Walgreens marks up generics by 975%

On the Freakonomics blog, Stephen Dubner (co-author of the wonderful Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything) digs into the pricing on generic drugs and finds that the main-street pharmacies mark up their offerings by 975 percent!

Even once you factor in the cost of buying a membership at Costco and Sam’s Club, the price differences were astounding. Here are the prices he found at Houston stores for 90 tablets of generic Prozac:

Walgreens: $117

Eckerd: $115

CVS: $115

Sam’s Club: $15

Costco: $12

Those aren’t typos. Walgreens charges $117 for a bottle of the same pills for which Costco charges $12.

Isn’t that great to know, how WalM

A very welcome update on the HPV saga in Texas–where the governor decided to do some creative legislation and rewarded his friends at Merck by mandating the most expensive vaccine in the history of medicine. A vaccine for a disease, I might add, that is also not spread by casual contact and affects only a tiny number of women a year in the U.S. (I’m talking about cervical cancer, which is uncommon in the U.S.)

Seems that the good ‘ol boys in the Texas legislature were not pleased with the governor’s gift to Merck, especially considering the outrage voiced by many of the general population. Sorry, Merck, but it looks like your windfall in Texas is nothing but hot air.

From Bloomberg:

The Texas House of Representatives voted today to overturn Governor Rick Perry’s executive order that sixth-grade girls be vaccinated against the virus that causes cervical cancer.

The measure passed 118 to 23, according to Chris Cutrone, a spokesman for House Speaker Tom Craddick. A similar bill in the Texas Senate has been sponsored by half the members. It’s still under consideration by a committee.

Perry has the option of vetoing the bill, but that would probably be political suicide. If he’s smart, he’ll just have to break his promise to Merck and mumble some excuse and then lay low.

It also seems that Virginia and New Mexico may also soon pass laws mandating the Gardasil vaccine. I hope that opponents immediately turn to legal challenges to stop these laws in their tracks. Having an opt out for parents is fine, but many will be unaware of it. I just cannot believe how many people think that this vaccine should be forced on young girls, in an effort to save them from the perils of cervical cancer.

Most HPV infections, even with the more noxious strains, do not lead to cancer in American women. We are generally healthy enough, so our immune system gets rid of it. HPV, of course, can be avoided by restricting sexual activity to one unaffected partner. In lieu of that, condoms are about 70% effective in preventing transmission.

Folks, this is not a deadly airborne plague which has fallen upon us, for which there is no cure or treatment, and which will kill millions if not stopped. If that were the case, then using an untried and brand new vaccine is appropriate. But for HPV? Give me a break. Merck is aggressively promoting this thing, and along with their pals at the FDA, downplaying any adverse effects–real or potential. This is Merck’s answer to the Vioxx scandal, their way of rebuilding their coffers after the beating they took with Vioxx.

Maybe someone should ask Merck why the damn thing is so expensive?

If people want to vaccinate their daughters, and young women want to get the vaccine, then be my guest. I don’t think that insurance should pay for it until it has gone through several years of post marketing testing. I do think that it should be free to poorer populations, however, where access to healthcare is limited and rates of cervical cancer tend to be the highest.

Physicians and anyone dispensing the vaccine (like all of you nurses out there) should advise parents/patients that the vaccine is brand new, has not undergone any postmarketing testing, and therefore, long term adverse effects are unknown. Currently known side effects should be disclosed. And if people still want it, then go ahead. But this is a vaccine that should never be mandated.

Amazing, isn’t it, that for once I am siding with the very conservative Christian right on a health issue. Live and learn.

And here is yet another great and provacative brainstorm in the never ending quest to solve the great nursing shortage of the 21st century. This time around, the governor of Michigan has come upon a fool proof plan to mass produce nursing instructors.

From Woodtv.com in Grand Rapids, MI:

Gov. Jennifer Granholm wants to create what she’s calling the Michigan Nursing Corps _ a three-year, $45 million plan to train 500 more nursing instructors to help graduate 3,000 additional nurses.

Now isn’t that exciting. The article doesn’t give an particulars, about who will be eligible for this “nursing corps” or what kind of degree they will graduate with. I assume that there willbe some sort of monetary incentive to go into this program, but then what will be their obligation once they graduate?

As usual, the brainstorms of politicians and many of the nursing experts usually doesn’t touch on solving the cause. In this case, the problem is that a nurse with an advanced degree can make far more money in other areas of healthcare, than as a teacher. Being an instructor is stressful, especially if you have to deal with the politics of academia and the road to tenure. Especially if you are a clinical instructor, your job is to keep an eye on your students while they are let loose on patients. And it’s no easy task if you’ve got 7 or 8 spread out all over the place. Thanks, but no thanks.

In fact, many ordinary staff nurses make more money than instructors. So why would anyone want to be one? Could that be why there is a shortage of them?

So what this brainstorm hopes to do, I have no idea. Is any of that money going to be used to bolster instructor salaries? I kind of doubt it. I mean, that would be innovative and address the problem, and politicians and nursing experts don’t want to ruin their reputations by doing something that progressive. I will be so bold as to guess that this program may pay for nurses to be educated as an instructor, in exchange for working as one for three years (the amount of time the program takes). And when the three years are up, at least half will bolt to greener pastures. By five years, there may be a quarter of the original group left as teachers. Many of them may not even be working as nurses, if they follow the national trends.

There is another interesting tidbit of news in this particular article, and of course, it is cleverly watered down so as not to give any real numbers or data. But we keep hearing about the “huge” waiting lists of applicants for nursing programs, and all the bemoaning of how we need more teachers, more space, and more clinical spots.

Wayne State, for example, gets up to 1,600 applicants a year for 160 entering class seats in its baccalaureate program. Not all applicants at certain schools are qualified, but the number that are eligible for classes exceeds the seats available.

At face value, that sentence feeds into the mania about “all of those applicants, not enough spots,” and the accompanying “if only we can accomodate them we will solve the nursing shortage.” At face value, it would appear that Wayne State gets 10 times as many applicants as there is space. However, how many of these applicants are qualified? The sentence which follows indicates that, but cleverly doesn’t give us enough data to ruin the myth.

With a sluggish economy, health jobs are always desirable. That is how it has always been. When I was applying to nursing school way back circa 1979, there were waiting lists at community colleges and state schools. This is not a new thing. Nursing wasn’t even a “popular” job back then, and yet the waiting lists were there. At private schools, there were no such waits.

So how many qualified applicants are there? How many applicants are suckered into applying because they read idiotic websites like Discovernursing.com which tell you that basically anyone on the planet, as long as they are still able to breathe, can become a nurse? Or they silly quizzes which, no matter what answer you give, will tell you that you “have what it takes” to be a nurse. Or even dumber websites, which tell you that there are a lot of nursing jobs that don’t require dealing with blood, dealing with patients, dealing with diseaes—you know, a lot of stockbrokers went to nursing school first before they made their way to the stock exchange.

I would guess that a great many people are applying to nursing programs because they “heard” it’s a good job. Never mind that they failed anatomy and physiology, and can’t add two plus two. It would be interesting to see real numbers–how many qualified applicants as opposed to how many seats? How do these numbers compare at private vs. public schools?

And of course, how many students drop out of nursing programs. From what I’ve read, that number exceeds 60% in some settings. You know, they didn’t realize that they had to touch a patients…

The scandalous conditions at Walter Reed isn’t exactly breaking news anymore, except it’s great fun to check back on the news and see which head is currently flying. But if one is looking for the joke in all this, look no further than George W. Bush’s “outcry” over the conditions.

From Buzzle.com:

President Bush was forced to pledge tough action yesterday to deal with a growing scandal over the poor treatment of wounded Iraq war veterans, which has led to a series of military resignations.

The furore has centred on conditions at the Walter Reed hospital in Washington, DC, which is considered the best military facility of its kind in America. However, revelations in the Washington Post last week revealed dilapidated conditions at several buildings used to house military outpatients.

The newspaper described infestations of rats in some rooms, mouldy walls and damp-stained fixtures. That was enough for the head of Walter Reed, Major-General George Weightman, to be fired. His sacking was then swiftly followed by the resignation of the Army Secretary, Francis Harvey. Harvey was the army’s top civilian official.

But the political crisis has not stopped there. In a highly unusual move aimed at stemming the damage, the White House has now become involved. In his weekly radio address yesterday, Bush slammed conditions at the hospital. ‘This is unacceptable to me, it is unacceptable to our country and it is not going to continue,’ he said.

Now isn’t that sweet, Bush is upset at the conditions at the hospital. This is the same man who thinks nothing of slashing the benefits to veterans, so that the VA hospitals may soon end up as disgusting as the military ones. Gee, this sort of compassion just brings me to tears. And never mind that the majority of these men are maimed and sick because of his and Dickie’s quest to control Iraqi oil. And to pave the coffers of Halliburton with gold.

Actually, hearing that Bush is upset does make me slightly queasy. But wait, here’s more. Apparently Bush has previously visited Walter Reed, as have other paper soliders–uh, I mean politicians–and they noticed nothing amiss. I guess they were blinded by the photo op.

The problems at Walter Reed are a potential disaster for many politicians on both sides of the political divide. The hospital is a favoured stop for any politician wishing to show solidarity with the troops and has been visited by many senior figures from both parties. Bush himself has visited Walter Reed several times. Yet, as White House spokesman Tony Snow has been forced to admit, he first learnt of the problems there from the media.

No other visiting politician appears to have noticed anything awry either. Certainly not the dreadful conditions at some of the outlying buildings at the sprawling facility. In particular, the state of Building 18 has been the centre of attention. That building, which houses wounded soldiers not ill enough to be in the main hospital but still requiring outpatient treatment, was the focus of the Post’s stories. It has now been closed for hurried renovations.

So I guess that Bush and his ilk thought that mice, roaches, termites, and mushrooms growing on the walls was normal for a military hospital. Nothing like a little hardship to toughen those silly soldiers up.

I’m also curious if there was any sort of protest from the doctors and nurses working at Walter Reed. Not only protesting for their patients, but for themselves–in having to work in these conditions. I’ve worked as a contract civilian in two military hospitals, so I am wondering if civilians also work at Walter Reed–and civilians may be more aggressive at complaining, since they have no military ties and the upper brass can’t threaten them. Surely the nurses, physicians, and other staff could not keep turning a blind eye. And if they did protest/complain, was it all buried? Were they threatened if they were military? Booted out if they were civilian contract, although the military is hard pressed for nurses and I can’t see how they would even consider firing a nurse.

Anyway, I’d love to hear from any nurses who’ve been at Walter Reed. I have a feeling that this has been kept under wraps for a while, but now that the story broke, there’s no going back.

Hypodermic needles and syringes–those things scare me and I try to avoid them at all cost. But I doubt that there is scarcely a nurse on this planet who hasn’t stuck one of those pointy things into a defenseless patient at least once during the course of her career.

But I bet that hardly anyone knows (or cares) that on March 12, 1845, Irish physician Francis Rynd published his account of how he used a hypodermic syringe to inject fluids into a patient at Dublin’s Meath Hospital. The beginning of a new era of pain, and well, also tremendous progress in medicine. Now medicines could be given which circumvented the digestive tract and got into the blood stream more quickly.

From the Canadian Journal of Anesthesia:

In 1845, the Irish surgeon Francis Rynd (1801-1861) became the first to introduce a fluid subcutaneously. In order to treat a patient with trigeminal neuralgia, Rynd developed a special instrument which could inject a morphine solution beneath the skin: “On the 3rd of June a solution of fifteen grains of acetate of morphia, dissolved in one drachm of creosote, was introduced to the supra-orbital nerve, and along the course of the temporal, malar, and buccal nerves, by four punctures of an instrument made for the purpose.”

Rynd published his results in the Dublin Medical Press, and it would still be a while before intramuscular injections were introduced. Still, this was quite a milestone in medicine and healthcare.

This device sounds really interesting, and may be of special interest to nurses who work in long term care where bedsores are an unfortunate common occurrence.

From engadget.com:

Patients suffering from bed sores may find a glimmer of hope in LifeWave’s new non-invasive BST (Bed Sore Treatment) device. It aims to speed healing in stubborn bed sores and similar ulcers by stimulating tissues around the site with a current that mimics the natural electrical activity found in a “normal wound.” The nervous system then recognizes the pulse as a natural signal to promote healing in necrotic tissue. Pilots have already begun in Europe and clinical trials have been scheduled in prelude to official marketing of the Israeli-based startup’s technology in the US.

As much as I complain about Seattle (and by the way, it is raining outside as I type), this is a progressive place. The land of Dubya’s nightmare, the state which dares to realize that kids have the right to receive an education that is factually correct and inclusive–and not some pseudo religious ramblings. This goes for all subjects, including sex education. A bill requiring just that passed the state senate.

From the Seattle Times

Medically accurate sex education would be mandatory in public schools that choose to teach sex education under a measure that passed the state Senate on Wednesday.

After more than three hours of debate, the bill was approved on a 30-19 vote and now heads to the House. Republicans each walked off the floor after casting their “no” votes.Under the measure, schools would be required to discuss abstinence with students, but could not teach abstinence without also instructing students about other aspects of sex education including the use of contraceptives.

Opponents argued the measure doesn’t put enough emphasis on abstinence, and that it takes local control away.

Several amendments, including one that would allow schools to choose to have abstinence-only programs, failed.

Thank goodness that measure failed. Allowing schools to be able to choose abstinence only programs is akin to saying that schools can be just as selective on other subjects as well. Should a school be allowed to teach history that excludes any mention of slavery, World War II, or women’s suffrage? Sound silly? Well, its not any sillier than abstinence only sex education, considering that the majority of teens are not going to wait until they are married to have sex, and that they need sound information taught by an intelligent person, if they are going to make the right decision for themselves.

Anyway, good news, finally. I see it as a kick in the crotch to Dubya and his cronies. His brain isn’t large enough to grasp the concept that a thorough education reduces unwanted pregnancies, and that trying to instill ignorance merely increases the rate of abortion.

Now here’s the billion dollar question. Was Bush a virgin on his wedding night? How about Laura? What about Dick Cheney? What about all of the other morons preaching their stale rhetoric? How about the Bush girls–are they pure and untainted? Funny how Bush never points to himself or his family as an example of his policies.

This is one of the best opinion pieces that I’ve seen on the issue of making the HPV (aka Gardisil) vaccine mandatory. It is from American.comand presents the issues involved in such an intelligent way.

Bottom line is that no one is opposed to preventing cervical cancer, but as the article points out, cervical cancer in the U.S. is largely found among the poor and uneducated–those who do not get regular PAP smears. Again, what this controversy boils down to is once again, the disparity in healthcare, rather than the need for forcing a brand new vaccine on everyone.

If you want the vaccine, then fine. But HPV is not highly contagious, and does not represent a threat to public health. And that is the only reason for mandating vaccines–not to bring untold wealth to the pharmaceutical companies. In about 97% of cases, the HPV strains found in women are not the type that typically lead to cervical cancer. And even in women who are infected with the high risk strains, most will not go on to develop cancer. A healthy immune system will generally fight off the infection and HPV goes bye-bye.

I oppose mandating this vaccine. I don’t think that it will have any effect on sexual activity (does anyone really think that a horny teen worries now about HPV?), but I do object to trying to force this brand new vaccine on the general public. As I said before, HPV does not float through the air. It is not contagious like the flu, measles, whooping cough, etc. We have no idea as to the long term side effects of the vaccine, or how long the vaccine will even last. Post marketing studies need to done with this, and even then, this is one vaccine that should never be forced on anyone.

What we should be doing is improving the health services and education of the poorer populations, and promote the vaccine to those who remain at the highest risk of cervical cancer.

I’m sure that most people now have caught a glimpse into the pathetic stories emerging from Walter Reed and other military facilities. Not enough heads are rolling if you ask me, and of course, the first head to roll should be the commander in chief…

But I just wanted to clarify something, which some news stories are not getting quite straight. The military hospital system is run by the Department of Defense, and is entirely separate from the VA system. Yet, some reporters seem to be meshing the two together. Most independent researchers (at least the reports that I have read) who have compared the VA with private hospital systems found the VA far superior in most measures of quality of care. To be sure, the VA has its own problems, which will be complicated by the cuts that Bush is trying to push through (why care for our sick and injured soldiers once they can no longer be sent to Iraq to secure his oil?), but that’s another issue entirely.

Bottom line is that the military hospitals treating soliders fresh from active duty, and the VA system, should not be confused.

In my March 3 posting, I gave a few tidbits about mountain climber George Mallory (in response to the story of the nurse who thinks scaling Mr. Everest is going to solve the nursing shortage), and posted a link about him.

However, I am honored to say that I was contacted by Jake Norton, a photographer and mountaineering man extraordinaire, who actually accompanied the 1999 expedition to Mt. Everest, in which the body of George Mallory was found after 75 years. He posted this as a message on my blog, but I thought that I would repeat it here, just in case anyone is interested in finding out more about Mallory.

I have to admit, I am a history buff, and reading about his adventures (ill-fated as it was) is a lot more exciting that nursing!

Thanks for your articles and sharing the information on George Mallory. I was fortunate enough to be the photographer for and climbing team member of the 1999 Mallory & Irvine Research Expedition…we discovered Mallory on May 1 of that year. The Wikipedia page on Mallory includes a great deal of good information on the man, but readers might also want to visit the Squidoo Mallory & Irvine lens I set up (here: http://www.squidoo.com/malloryandirvine/). There are lots of great links within it to sites with loads of information on Mallory, Irvine, the pre-WWII Everest expeditions, and the mystery surrounding Mallory & Irvine’s final days.

Jake Norton
MountainWorld Productions